Mr Katz (I refuse to use his apparent title given the trauma he put my wife and I through the past 7 months) may have 30 years experience in his chosen ‘profession’, but he is not getting any wiser. We took our son to his practice when he was 6 weeks (he is now 15 months old) to have his tongue clipped as his frenulum was preventing him from latching on properly when being breast fed, and he was showing signs of being tongue-tied. Mr Katz was initially reluctant to do the procedure, stating that he didn’t think it was required as he saw no problems with the tongue, however, when he did the frenulectomy he made the tiniest possible cut to the frenulum which my wife and I thought was pointless. We asked Mr Katz if he should have done more to help our son (neither of us have a doctorate) but he told us that he couldn’t and wouldn’t cut more – he had done a sufficient amount.
We started/tried to give our son solids when he was 8 months old, but for 7 months, he gagged, choked and threw up all that we gave him. He would take formula and pureed Gerber food stages 1 and 2, but anything of substance (fruit, cookie, yogurt with bits etc) he could not swallow. We took our son to various eating therapists to try and have this problem fixed – the time spent, the sleepless nights, the long days of worry and crying, wondering why our son couldn’t eat while most kids his age and younger ate all food types, had us truly concerned. One month ago a doctor noticed that the movement of his tongue looked restricted and asked if he had his tongue clipped. She was surprised when we said yes and told us to see another ENT specialist. A doctor from Oradell, NJ saw instantly that our son required a second frenulectomy and today (May 3rd), completed the operation to give my son full use of his mouth.
Tonight, the same day as the surgery, my son ate his second cookie, and my wife cried with joy and relief, knowing that our son wasn’t going to suffer anymore. But knowing that all the pain and countless visits to various therapists, could have been easily avoided if Mr Katz had done his job properly, just makes me sick to the stomach. How many other parents have been through the same situation as us after visiting his practice? I would advise all parents to seek a second opinion if they have. No one wants to see their child suffer, especially if a problem like this can be easily fixed. I would not recommend Mr Katz to anyone.
